Apax Partners announced the acquisition of e-City from Schlumberger

The transaction is financed by a combination of equity provided by Apax Partners’ French Funds, and senior debt and mezzanine from BNP Paribas and Indigo Capital respectively. The existing management team will co-invest alongside Apax Funds. The transaction is subject to regulatory clearance by the French and Spanish authorities.

e-City invented the first pay & display machine in 1970. Today, the company markets its products and services to municipalities and private operators in 3,000 cities throughout 40 countries. e-City enjoys an unequalled global market share and has developed its business throughout Europe and North America. Since 2000 the company has leveraged its technological leadership expanding its service offering for the on-street market and launching a new access control system for the off-street parking segment. e-City’s systems today control over 2.6 million parking spaces.

Bertrand Pivin, Partner at Apax Partners, commented: “e-City has a tremendous growth potential in a fast-evolving market. Thanks to world-class engineers and substantial investments in R&D during the last three years, the group has built an undeniable technological leadership.” He adds: “Our objective is to transform the business model from a parking equipment manufacturer to a service provider of complete parking solutions for municipalities, car park operators and mass transit operators in order to address markets emerging convergence.”

“We intend to leverage the achievements of the Schlumberger years and continue to offer innovative products and services which fully meet our clients’ expectations” confirmed Yves Chambeau, e-City’s CEO. “This is a high-potential market, especially in the United States where pay & display systems are progressively adopted over competing technologies. Europe will also experience substantial growth related to connectivity and real-time information services. The strong presence of Apax Partners in all our key markets and their deep experience in the U.S. in particular will help us to seize these opportunities.”

e-City employs 875 people and generates revenues of 125 million euros. Its assembly and R&D site is based in Besançon, France.

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners is one of the world's leading private equity investment groups, operating across Europe, Israel, the United States and Japan. With over 30 years of direct investing experience, Apax Partners’ Funds provide long-term equity financing to entrepreneurs to build and strengthen world-class companies. It pursues a balanced equity portfolio strategy, investing in companies at all stages of development from early stage to buy-out in transactions ranging from $5 million to $5 billion.

Apax Partners’ Funds invest in companies across its 6 chosen global sectors of information technology, telecommunications, healthcare, media, financial services, retail and consumer. Some of Apax Partners’ Funds recent investments include Kabel Deutschland and Frans Bonhomme.

Apax Partners manages and advises over $12 billion on behalf of leading institutional investors around the world. For additional information, visit the web site at www.apax.com